I am really tired of this Evil GM storyline. Austin/McMahon spawned this legacy of an Evil figurehead. I am just about tired of it. It turns into a crutch and I think it takes the heat from wrestlers. I mean, people aren't attacking people because they don't like them, they are doing it because the "Owner" told him to or allowed him to. What happened to two people not liking each other, and settling differences in the ring? Now it is Commish Val ordering someone into a match, or Eric B. announcing a match. I really miss the old days of simple personal dislike and fighting it out in the ring.

I guess I am tired of it even if it is a face owner. It still is more of the owner running the show instead of wrestlers just settling an issue or chasing a title in the ring. Maybe it is just me, but I would like to see the days of the "Owner/GM/Commish" go away. I think it is more of a cruth for writers who can't think of any reason that people don't like each other.

The evil owner/GM/Commissioner gimmick has been beaten into the ground since 2000. When Uncle Eric did it with the NWO in '96, it was unique. When Vince did it against Austin in '98, it was a moneymaker; and it got rid of Vince the broadcaster, which in and of it self was brilliant. However, much like the 24/7 gimmick for the Hardcore Title, the novelty has long ago worn off, and the evil boss gimmick needs to be put out of its misery.

I think its nice to have some sort of authority figure, but he/she doesn't have to be evil. I think a lot of people would agree that one of the best times in recent WWE history was when Foley was the comish from June to December of 2000. That was some good stuff. So, why not bring in Shane and (here's a novel idea) not turn him heel!

Hopefully they do go with Shane-O after Bischoff, and like you said they should have him face. I personally think that Bischoff is great, but he's gotta be gone at some point. The heel owner angle is hella worn out.

Shane as face owner would own. It wouldn't seem like he was always making decision with his own agenda in mind. Shane is a proven babyface and having him wrestle the odd match wouldnt be so bad either.

Originally posted by LeechOfTheNightI think its nice to have some sort of authority figure, but he/she doesn't have to be evil. I think a lot of people would agree that one of the best times in recent WWE history was when Foley was the comish from June to December of 2000. That was some good stuff. So, why not bring in Shane and (here's a novel idea) not turn him heel!

commissioners should always be heels. babyfaces should win titles and defeat the evil heels by virtue of their own goodness and wrestling ability, not by some kind of wrestling-world deus ex machina. i actually think having morley as the evil commissioner is working well for raw, giving the blah team of storm and regal some extra needed heat.

All GMs, Presidents, and Commissioners are really cliched plot devices in the world of wrestling right now. Especially the heel ones, but also the face ones like Foley.

Things have come to this point, because of the way they used to be, where we'd have Gorilla Monsoon, Jack Tunney, JJ Dillon, or Nick Bockwinkel in charge to set things straight. And they were great in their roles. Eventually, though, we wanted to see things change and they broke the rule of thumb by turning them into actual characters. We wanted this at the time, and it was good. Bischoff was great in his role as evil VP of WCW. Vince shattered everything when he turned.

This worked for a while, but now we're experiencing a backlash (hell, we've had one since 2000) where it's time to go back to the traditional model and give some old guy a suit and carry himself with some dignity.

I think that, once Vince McMahon came out as the President of the WWF, Sgt. Slaughter's role as Gorilla Monsoon's successor became pretty much void. And, since the McMahon Ego (a trait carried down to Stephanie now) has taken over, we haven't had the opportunity to go back to the way things used to be.

The problem is, as it has been for the last three years, that the McMahons are too close to the situation and won't take a step back to let things run their course.

We need a figurehead of some sort, but they need to be an actual figurehead. Someone we can take seriously. Someone who lays the law down. Right now, we can't take any of these people seriously.

Bischoff's done a pretty good job, but he's managed to turn himself into a bigger joke as time has gone on. They need to put someone in charge who is untouchable, that's the key element to this role. But, who should fill it?

WWE needs to think outside of the box, and while they're raiding Hollywood, pull some old guy actor off the street and put him out on TV. The new Commish souldn't be charismatic, at least not in the cartoonish wrestling approach. He shouldn't have any sort of sense of humor and he should, most importantly, be old. Like the Old Man from Robocop.

Originally posted by SKLOKAZOID The new Commish souldn't be charismatic, at least not in the cartoonish wrestling approach. He shouldn't have any sort of sense of humor and he should, most importantly, be old. Like the Old Man from Robocop.

Old, not charismatic and Robocop. Oh God no, not the return of Ole Anderson. Where's the plastic and duct tape.

Originally posted by FfejMaybe they should bring back Jack Tunney, he rocked.

and I agree with that. Jack only came in on extreme deals, and usually only as in (Gorilla speaking during Hillbilly Jim Match) "WWF President Jack Tunney has announched that The Million Dollar Man, Ted Dibiase must meet the winner of the Hulk Hogan - Paul Orndorf match at this week's saturday night's main event at Wrestlemania"

Or something like that. Gosh - I bet we only saw Tunney speak once or twice in all the years he was "president"

Originally posted by SKLOKAZOID The new Commish souldn't be charismatic, at least not in the cartoonish wrestling approach. He shouldn't have any sort of sense of humor and he should, most importantly, be old. Like the Old Man from Robocop.

Old, not charismatic and Robocop. Oh God no, not the return of Ole Anderson. Where's the plastic and duct tape.

I think the whole format has to change. It's been this way since 1998. This whole "so tonight...In this very ring...you will face ________ and if you lose you will never ___________ in this company again!" and cue lame music.

It's tired. It's not working now for the same reasons that the 1987 format wasn't working in 1995: repetitiveness and a lack of new stars. You have to mix it up a bit now and then. How about setting all the matches ahead of time? Would that be so horrible. Unpredictability can take place in the form injury angles or whatnot. But unpredictability cannot take place in the presence of unpredictability. If "anything can happen" is the norm, then no one is impressed when anything happens. So establish some solid, steady, but well-done narrative patterns...And then break from that during the right times.

Originally posted by Hogan's My DadI think the whole format has to change. It's been this way since 1998. This whole "so tonight...In this very ring...you will face ________ and if you lose you will never ___________ in this company again!" and cue lame music.

It's tired. It's not working now for the same reasons that the 1987 format wasn't working in 1995: repetitiveness and a lack of new stars. You have to mix it up a bit now and then. How about setting all the matches ahead of time? Would that be so horrible. Unpredictability can take place in the form injury angles or whatnot. But unpredictability cannot take place in the presence of unpredictability. If "anything can happen" is the norm, then no one is impressed when anything happens. So establish some solid, steady, but well-done narrative patterns...And then break from that during the right times.

(edited by Hogan's My Dad on 26.2.03 1335)

Amen to that. My feelings exactly.

On the subject of a commish/higher authority, I have always felt that the most effective person was Shawn Michaels. He was never on every week, only at certain times, which made his character much more effective. You felt that when Shawn was in the building something special would happen. There might be some heels getting their due, a couple of surprise matches, etc. but you knew that something was going to happen and that you should tune in. Now it seems like the commish/higher authority is used as a crutch to hide the lack of originality.

Originally posted by SKLOKAZOID The new Commish souldn't be charismatic, at least not in the cartoonish wrestling approach. He shouldn't have any sort of sense of humor and he should, most importantly, be old. Like the Old Man from Robocop.

Old, not charismatic and Robocop. Oh God no, not the return of Ole Anderson. Where's the plastic and duct tape.

the overall figurehead character only works in the sense that it provides the answer to the question "who the hell made that match"

but in the case of Raw today the figurehead makes the characters weak by deviding the heat.

What i mean by that is since Eric Bischoff is a heel, anything he gets involved with is tainted by his involvement. the heels start with the advantage of a GM who sees things their way and this is evened up by the faces having to totally dominate the heels in the ring unless they cheat. the only heels who are successfull on a large scale is when they are hated but still capable of winning a match without the constant cheating. their is nothing more hatable then a heel who doesn't have to cheat to win.

Case-in-point, 3MW. they came in because Eric Bischoff decided he needed some muscle, and continued as the heavy's he relies in when in a spot. They had no personal reason for their involvement other then Bischoff, and are used by him and Morley as the fall guys. they have no agenda of their own nor any personality it seems either. They cannot win unless they cheat and they have no obvious reason for being there unles they hae something to do with Bischoff. Bischoff in a sense OWNS their heat

Now imagine if they'd come in, and just started waylaying people like they did but with their own personal agenda and Bischoff was nowhere in sight. the faces went down with 3MW standing over them on their own merits. this creates intruige over their motives and believability in the fact that they are dangerous men. Now granted 3MW may not have even been able to pull this off convincingly but i'd damn sure take them more seriously if they'd not been someones lacky who doesn't win unless they triple team them.

IMO the most successfull figurehead is the one who, like AWArulz said, "only comes down in extreme cases." It should be known he's there but his involvement should be only in matters that greatly affect his show eg: the WM main event

their is a need for some figurehead at the top simply to be the one who in theory makes the matches but they should be seldom heard from and seen even less. this will increase the importance of their appearences and allow individual wrestlers to have more personality and MOST IMPORTANTLY OF ALL, allow heels to be on an even playing field with the faces and increase the believability of even standing between the wrestlers (in terms of advantage) heels will be more believable and faces victories will not be certainties anymore but special occasions

Originally posted by FfejMaybe they should bring back Jack Tunney, he rocked.

and I agree with that. Jack only came in on extreme deals, and usually only as in (Gorilla speaking during Hillbilly Jim Match) "WWF President Jack Tunney has announched that The Million Dollar Man, Ted Dibiase must meet the winner of the Hulk Hogan - Paul Orndorf match at this week's saturday night's main event at Wrestlemania"

Or something like that. Gosh - I bet we only saw Tunney speak once or twice in all the years he was "president"

My favorite Tunney stooging segment was when he announced thatWarrior and Hogan would not be allowed to face each other again because their match at Wrestlemania VI had been too intense.

I like Bischoff as a performer but there's no depth to his evil GM character. What are his motives? What does he want to accomplish? Why does he do what he does? Why is he bitter? Why is he evil?

The same can be said for a lot of the recent figureheads, there's no depth to their characters. Stephanie's character is pretty weak right now too. It's very wishy washy. You could say that they both want their respective shows to be better but why? There's no storyline incentive.

The original Mr. McMahon had reasons to be so spiteful towards Austin.

The evil figurehead could still work and be interesting if they spent time developing the figurehead instead of just making him "evil" and making it seem like a rehash.

WWE needs to think outside of the box, and while they're raiding Hollywood, pull some old guy actor off the street and put him out on TV. The new Commish souldn't be charismatic, at least not in the cartoonish wrestling approach. He shouldn't have any sort of sense of humor and he should, most importantly, be old. Like the Old Man from Robocop.